NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Going up against the toughest challenge so far in the season, the Lipscomb baseball team dropped a 4-1 decision to No. 3 Vanderbilt on Tuesday afternoon at Hawkins Field in the “Music City”.

“When you’re playing against a good team like Vandy, who seems to get better and better every year and are so well coached, small things can put you in a bad spot,” said Lipscomb head coach Jeff Forehand. “I have to give our guys credit though. I thought we pitched really, really well.

“One of the main reasons Vandy wins so many games is their pitching staff and they proved that again tonight. That’s one of the reasons they are a top-5 team in the country.”

The Bisons (9-17) got on the scoreboard first in the contest when senior centerfielder Zack Lowery drew a one-out walk ahead of sophomore Griffin Moore, who ripped a double down the left field line to put LU up 1-0.

Vandy (22-4) would answer back with a pair of runs in the bottom of the third thanks to a sacrifice fly and a balk before adding a run in the fourth on a triple steal of home.

The Dores tacked on a run an insurance tally in the sixth to round out the scoring.

Tyler Ferguson picked up the win in relief for Vandy working 4.2 innings allowing no runs and just one hit. The righty walked three and fanned three before Brian Miller worked a perfect 2.1 innings to earn his eighth save of the season.

Junior righthander Jacob Knott took the loss for the Bisons giving up three hits, three runs and five walks in 4.2 innings of work. Knott also struck out five Dores before exiting.

“I told our guys after the game that I thought we pitched really well against a good team,” said Forehand. “Only giving up four runs against them, you feel like you give yourselves a chance to win. We just couldn’t get a hit when we had someone on base after the second inning.”

The Bisons load the bus for the airport at 6:30 a.m. on Wednesday morning for the flight to Ft. Myers to take on Florida Gulf Coast in a three-game set that starts on Thursday night in the “Sunshine State”.